Snakes

Froglife Volunteer and Wildlife Artist, Samantha Marais, is adding to her ongoing species drawing collection this month with the UK Snakes.

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)

Grass Snakes are found throughout England and Wales but are absent from Scotland. They’re quite often seen in gardens, especially those with ponds which the snakes can hunt in. Grass Snakes are quite timid, often feigning death if disturbed; alternatively they may excrete a foul-smelling liquid. They are our longest native snake and can reach 150cm. Find out more.

Adder (Vipera berus)

Adders are found throughout Britain, right up to the north of Scotland, but their secretive nature and camouflaged markings mean they often go unnoticed. This can sometimes be a good thing – as the only venomous snake in the UK they have often been persecuted in the past. Adder bites are painful but rarely fatal and usually only occur if the snake is disturbed or deliberately antagonised. Adders are a sturdy looking snake and are easy to distinguish from the other native species. Find out more.

Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca)

The Smooth Snake is the UK’s rarest reptile and is only found on the heathlands of Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Their name comes from the fact the scales are smooth and flat, unlike the Grass Snake’s and Adder’s scales which have a ridge down the middle. They are a shy, secretive snake. Find out more.

Snake Fungal Disease; another emergent fungal pathogen but what do we know about it and should we worry about it in the UK?

The chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and its impacts on amphibian populations worldwide have been described in terms that leave little doubt about its severity- The worst disease ever recorded in terms of biodiversity impacts. However, Bd is only one species in a range of newly described pathogens, which all are seriously affecting wildlife species and which, intriguingly, are all fungal. Froglife have written several times about the newly described chytrid species, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, the salamander killer fungus found in 2013 in The Netherlands and which is now spreading into Belgium and Germany and threatening newt species across Europe and North America. This new chytrid has very likely been introduced to Europe by the amphibian pet trade from Asia and has since spread into wild amphibian populations due to poor biosecurity. Yet, people interested in mammals and more specifically bats, will be able to tell you about white-nose syndrome disease (http://www.batcon.org/index.php/our-work/regions/usa-canada/address-serious-threats/wns-intro), a recently discovered fungal disease in bats, most likely transported accidentally from Europe or Asia into North America. This disease has had catastrophic impacts on hibernating bats of several species, has been spreading in Eastern USA and Canada and has killed at least 5.7 million bats there since 2006 with no signs of slowing down.

In line with these aggressive and newly described fungal pathogens, Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) is an emerging disease affecting populations of wild snakes in the eastern and midwestern United States. The clinical manifestations of SFD, typically resulting in swollen and deformed parts of the head and body, scale erosions and crusty scales, had been reported infrequently in both captive and wild snakes in the USA since at least 2002, including in at least one large mortality event in Florida, but more recently the number of recorded wild snakes showing signs of fungal dermatitis has been increasing rapidly and the disease is now known to occur in at least 16 states in the eastern USA. In 2008 laboratory analyses have demonstrated that the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola is consistently associated with SFD, often alongside additional fungi, but more recent studies have been able to cause infection showing typical SFD manifestations using only cultures of this fungal species. So far this infection has only been detected in snakes, often involving rattlesnakes, but also including water snakes and colubid snakes. Given the pattern of distribution, the fungus appears to have existed for a long time in the USA and it might persist as an environmental saprobe in soil, as well as colonizing living hosts but the reasons for the fact that it is now attacking snakes remains a mystery. Just like for other emerging fungal pathogens, many fundamental questions about the origin of O. ophiodiicola, mode of transmission, and effective treatment options are currently unknown and still need to be investigated. Has the fungus mutated and become more pathogenic, is it being made more aggressive by climate change? Has it simply been undetected for a long time due to the fact that snakes are so cryptic in the wild? All questions that need an answer but we do know that the disease has caused substantial declines in already threatened and fragmented snake populations in the USA, including the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) in New Hampshire and the Eastern Massasagua (Sistrurus catenatus) in Michigan.

Although Snake Fungal Disease has so far only been reported in the eastern parts of the USA, the evolution of other recent fungal diseases and the ever increasing possibilities for moving goods, animals including pets and pathogens between countries and continents, are all very important reasons why biosecurity measures should be carefully implemented worldwide, including in the UK, and why people involved in reptile and snake monitoring programs as well the interested general public should all be vigilant and report any incidents of disease in both amphibians and reptiles. If you see any dead or diseased amphibians and reptiles please report this to Froglife using the info@froglife.org email or directly to the Garden Wildlife Health project where Froglife are partners http://www.gardenwildlifehealth.org/.

Questions include your favourite animals and thoughts about wildlife conservation, your opinions on amphibians and reptiles, a bit of an ID quiz as well as about the charitable causes closest to your heart.

Through taking part, you can also enter a prize draw to win over £50 worth of goodies from the Froglife online shop, with a prize for over 18s and under 18s who take part.

The prize for under 18s includes a cuddly frog, pond dipping kit and frog back pack from the online shop

The results so far have been really interesting, with Hedgehogs the most popular answer to the favourite animal question. 95% of the respondents so far have seen a frog in the wild in the UK, compared to 64% having seen a snake. We are also hearing, perhaps unsurprisingly, that many people are affected by financial concerns when choosing to support charities, and have cut back donations. All of the information we gather through the survey will be analysed by marketing experts Emerald Frog to help us strengthen our fundraising and campaigning techniques, enabling us to better support amphibians and reptiles into the future.

It would be wonderful if you could take the time to share your thoughts and experiences before the 14th of March, to help shape the future of Froglife’s communications and campaigns. Thank you!

Croaking science is a new way for student volunteers and scientist to explore what’s occurring in the world of Science – science facts, new research or old debates which are inspired by or affect amphibians and reptiles, and then communicate this to a wider audience in their own words. The aim of the feature is to provide a platform for those starting their foray into the world of science communications as well as established scientists. We welcome any submissions from students and scientists. Please note that the views expressed in the articles are not those of the Froglife Trust.

Volunteer Gemma Rate looks into the fun world of ‘What if’ and fantasy for this Croak. Ever wanted to build your own snake? Read on…

Have you ever wondered how snakes can do so well without legs? And can you invent something fantastic? To answer both these questions, you need to imagine you’re a steampunk inventor, at work in a Victorian style workshop. Instead of electronics and plastic, technology is made using gears, wood and lots of shiny brass. It’s also often powered by steam.

You have to build an android snake out of all these gears and pipes; one that can survive outside your workshop. But to do that you need to know what kinds of things it needs and how well it must be adapted to its environment. What are the features that allow it to hunt for food, or avoid detection by predators?

I’ve already designed an example, which you can see below. It has a huge hinge to open its mouth up to 150°, just like a real snake. This ability allows it to swallow its meal whole. It’s also painted to look like an adder for camouflage, and has serrated copper teeth that point backwards in the mouth to help swallow prey.

However, it could be improved. Research what a snake needs and then draw and describe your own! Some ideas are:

Rubber tongue for sense of smell.

Venom for some snakes.

Solar powered to simulate being cold blooded.

Heat sensitive pits on the snout.

What you can do:

Think about the problems some snakes will face with climate change and global warming…can you design add on’s to help them adapt in a changing world?

Croaking science is a new way for student volunteers and scientist to explore what’s occurring in the world of Science – science facts, new research or old debates which are inspired by or affect amphibians and reptiles, and then communicate this to a wider audience in their own words. The aim of the feature is to provide a platform for those starting their foray into the world of science communications as well as established scientists. We welcome any submissions from students and scientists. Please note that the views expressed in the articles are not those of the Froglife Trust.

Becky Austin our Croaking Science Volunteer, has a close encounter with the Mozambique spitting cobra

On a recent university field trip to South Africa I had my first close encounter with a dangerous wild snake – an unforgettable experience! We were walking through the bush when our guide shouted “everybody stop moving!” The shocked silence that ensued was filled with an angry hissing noise, then no more than two metres in front of us there it was: a Mozambique spitting cobra. Its hood was fanned and its head reared in defence, before the metre long snake shot down its hole to safety.

Mozambique spitting cobras are one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. As their name suggests, they can spit their venom in defence, at targets as far away as 2-3 metres! Luckily for us the snake we encountered did not spit – a direct hit to the eyes causes excruciating pain and permanent blindness if not treated quickly.

How do spitting cobras spit so far? When their venom glands contract, a small amount is excreted at high pressure down through channels in their fangs and out through a hole. The holes are at the front of the fangs, so the venom is propelled out of the mouth of the cobra at a right angle instead of straight down, for a direct hit to the eyes.

Link through to Arkive for images of Mozambique spitting cobras.

There are only three species of snake in England: the smooth snake, grass snake, and adder. Only the adder is venomous and can inject venom into a victim through its fangs while biting. Luckily adders are shy creatures, who have only bitten people rarely, in self defence and there have been no fatalities for many years. However our three gentle snake species are now unfortunately under threat from continual loss of habitat.

What can you do to help?

Froglife is always keen to know when a snake has been spotted, so if you see one, we want to hear about it! This helps to build a picture of how snakes are faring in the UK. You can also make your garden more snake friendly in a number of easy ways – take a look at our wildlife gardening section to find out more:

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